Saturday

High school student-athletes all love playing sports, but Plymouth Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2018 inductee Noelle Christmas took it to another level.

PLYMOUTH – High school student-athletes all love playing sports, but Plymouth Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2018 inductee Noelle Christmas took it to another level.

"Every day during softball season, I couldn’t wait until it was time to go to the field," the Plymouth South Class of 2011 graduate said Wednesday. "The entire team was like that, and I think that’s what made that time so much fun for me. We all couldn’t wait to go to the field and play softball."

There was a good reason why Christmas and friends were so anxious to get to the softball diamond every day. During the four years that Christmas was in the pitching circle for the Lady Panthers they were winning games as well as multiple Atlantic Coast League titles.

Christmas threw a handful of no-hitters in her time at Plymouth South and even tossed a perfect game. The four-time ACL All-Star was also a key contributor at the top of the batting order and still holds several of the program’s pitching and offensive records.

Her high school exploits caught the attention of Wheaton College softball Coach Rachael Power. Christmas played four years with the top-ranked NCAA Division III Lyons before graduating in 2015 with a degree in Sociology.

"I loved the level of competition in the NEWMAC conference. I was playing both with and against people who were the best players on their high school teams every game. As teammates we pushed each other to get better every day because we knew we had the chance to do something special," Christmas said. "That made me want to keep working hard and striving every day to be a better softball player."

Christmas played in the outfield her freshman year before earning a spot on the Wheaton pitching staff during her final three years with the program. She had a record of 10-1 her senior season and finished her college career with a 2.68 earned run average in 294.2 innings pitched with 171 strikeouts.

Christmas, 25, now works at the college and is in her third season as an assistant coach with the Wheaton softball program.

"The first year was strange because I was coaching players that I’d been teammates with the year before," Christmas said. "It’s getting easier over time, and Coach Powers is been a great mentor in teaching me how to look at something a player is doing and giving her tips on how to improve it."

(The Plymouth Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony is Sunday, April 29, at The Pavilion at The Pinehills. Tickets are $30 each and are available by calling Kristin Harrington at 508-830-4429.)